Gasket-seat-cleaning tool



Jan. 29, 1924.

H. L. STALEY ET AL GAS KET SEAT CLEANING TOOL Filed April 6. 1920 J 6 j J gwue nlozw a r I 1 29 Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

rice.

HABEISON I STALEY AND FRANK 3'. BOOK, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

enskn'r-sisnr-onnnmns TOOL.

Application filed April 6,

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that we, HARnIsoN L. Sr.- LEY and FRANK J. ROCK, citizens of the United States of America, and residents, respectively, of Richmond, county of Henrico, and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gasket- Seat-Cleani11g Tools, of which the following is a full and clear specification.

In water-tube boilers, it is customary to provide the boiler-head with a series of holes in alinement with the water-tubes for the purpose of inserting tube-cleaning devices. These holes are closed while the boiler is in use by covers which are clamped against the inner face of the boiler-head, a gasket being clamped between the cover-plate and the boiler-head to ensure a gas-tight joint. When these cover-plates are removed to permit access to. the water-tubes, the gasket has so deteriorated that parts of it stick to the gasket-seat formed on the boiler-shell, and these rough parts of the gasket must be thoroughly scraped oif before a new gasket can be put into place. It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple r0- tary tool for cutting away the dbris of the gasket, whereby this work may be done with great expedition and thoroughness, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our device showing it in the act of being put in position for use; a

Fig. 2 is an end View of the cutter-head with the cover-plate removed;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsection through the cutter-head.

Referring to the drawings annexed by reference-characters, a. designates a shaft which carries at one end a cylindrical cutterhead I) which has a limited rotation upon said shaft on, the other (outer) end of the shaft being provided with means for conveniently rotating the shaft, a hand-crank c beingshown in the present instance. The cutter-head b is of. a size to freely fit into the usual hand-hole in the boiler-shell d.

The forward end of theshaft a terminates within the cutter-head and has aflixcd to it a disk 6, this diskbeing covered by a headdisk ,1 fastened to the forward face of the cutter-head by bolts g, said disk f being recessed on its inner face to form a circular chamber for the disk 6. This disk is proone of the slots it, so that the rotation of the.

disk will either project the cutters into operative position, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, or retract them to inoperative position, shown in full lines in said figures. The cutter-head is provided at its outer end with an annular flange is which, when the cutter-head is inserted to its fullest extent in the hole in the boiler plate, will bear against the outer face of the boiler-plate. Slidably mounted on the shaft at is a crossbar Z which is provided at each end with a forwardly-extending foot Z, this bar with its feet forming a sort of yoke which straddles the cutter-head, the forward ends of the feet being in position to bear against the outer face of the boiler-head when the cutter-head is inserted in the cleaning-hole This cross-head is normally pressed toward the cutter-head by a coil-spring m surrounding the shaft, the tension of this spring being regulated by means of an abutment-collar n adj ustably fastened to the shaft 0; by a setscrew 0. y I

As shown in Fig. 1, to apply the device it is simply necessary to insert the cutterhead into the hole in the boiler-head and press upon the outer end of the shaft wto compress the spring m sufficiently to bring the flange lo against the front face of the boiler-head; then, by giving the shaft ma partial turn, in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2,, by means of its handcrank, the diskv 6 will be rotated sufficiently to project the cuttersinto cutting position,

that is, far enough outwardly to encompass the gasket-seatformed on the inner face of the boiler-sheet. During this movement of the disk 6 and the connected cutters, the body 6 of the cutter-head is held against rotation by friction of the flange it against the boiler-sheet, but, as soon as the cutters are fully projected, it will be obvious that the arrangement of the pins andslotsis the hole until the cutters are retracted by an opposite rotation of the shaft a. After the cutter-head is thus locked in the hole, pressure may be relieved from the outer end' of the shaft a and thus permit the spring to force the shaft a outwardly far enough to bring the cutting edges of the cutters against the gasket-seat, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Then the tool is ready for operation, the operation being carried out by simply holding the tool up against the boilerehead with one hand while rotating the shaft a with the other hand. During this operation, it will be observed that the spring holds the cutters resiliently against the work, the degree of pressure being determined by the position of-the collar n. In actual tests, it has been found that the gasket-seat may be thoroughly cleaned of the gasket debris by a few turns of the cutter-head. The resilient pressure maintained on the cutters is important, of course, in that it enables the cutters to yield slightly. in repeatedly passing 1 over the larger pieces of the gasket dbris until they are entirely out out and the cutters are all working smoothly on the bottom of the gasket-seat.

It will be observed that the tangential arrangement of the cutter-bars is advantageous in that it ensures the dbris being removed by a sort of draw cut. This arrangement of'the cutters is advantageous also for the reason that it prevents the cutters being withdrawn by the independent rotation of the disk in certain operations where the parts of the gasket stick so hard to the seat that it facilitates their removal to be able to oscillate the tool instead of rotating it continuously in a forward direction; that is to say, when particularly obstinate pieces of gasket are encountered, they can be better removed by wiggling or oscillating the tool back and forth, and the cutters are prevented from being retracted by pressure against the gasket-seat caused by the spring m. In other words, while the cutters may be retracted by reverse rotation of the disk 6, when the cutter-head is pressed inwardly far enough to relieve the cutters from pressure against the seat, the cutters will not be retracted by such reverse rotation of the shaft while they are in forcible engagement with the gasket-seat; this, as stated, enables the cutter-head to be oscillated whenever it is desirable to do so in working on, a particularly obstinate piece of gasket. This ability to oscillate the tool (i. e., ratchet fashion) is further advantageous for the reason that in some locations there is not room enough to completely rotate the crank-handle.

The nature and scope of the invention having been thusindicated and its preferred embodiment having been specifically described, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a tool of the class set forth, a support, a cutterhead carried by a shaft and adapted to be inserted in a hole in the boiler-plate and carrying cutters normally in inoperative position adapted to be projected beyond the circumference of the cut ter-head so as to work against the gasketseat on the inner face of the boilerplate, and means whereby the shaft may be rotated independently of the cutter-head and the cutters projected after the cutter-head is inserted, means being provided for clamping the tool in the hand-hole while in operation.

2. In a tool of the class set forth, a support, a shaft provided at its outer end with means for rotating it and at its inner end with a cutter-head adapted to pass into the cleaning-hole in the boiler-sheet, said cutter-head being 7 provided with cutters adapted to be retracted to inoperative position for insertion into the cleaning hole and to be projected beyond the circumference of the cutter-head after it is inserted so as to engage the gasket-seat on the inner face of the boiler-sheet, resilient means being provided for pulling the cuttingedges of they tool against the gasket-seat while in operation.

3. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft and means at one end'for rotating it, a cutter-head at the other end of the shaft adapted to be inserted in the cleaning-hole, said cutter-head being provided with-cutters adapted to be retracted to inoperative position for insertion into the cleaning hole and to be projected beyond the circumference of the cutter-body so as to engage the gasket-seat on the inner face of" the boiler-sheet, and resilient means for causing said cutters to resiliently engage the gasket-seat during rotation of the cutterhead. i

4. In a tool of the class set forth, asup port, a shaft, a cutter-head mounted on the inner end of the shaft and having a limited rotation thereon and carrying cutters adapted to be, projected'outwardly beyond the cutter-head body, and means whereby rotation of the shaft independently of the cutter-head will project the cutters or retract them, for the purpose set forth, means being provided for not only clampingthe tool in position on the boiler wall-but also iii for holding the cutter-head against rota: tion when the'shaft is initially rotated to project the tools to working position.

5. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft support,'a shaft having a cutter-head mounted on its inner endin such manner as to have a limited rotation thereon independently of the cutter-head, tangentially-arranged cutters carried by said head, and means operated by said shaft for projecting as well as retracting said cutters, for

the purpose set forth, means being provided for holding the cuttenhead against rotation while the cutters, are being projected to working position.

6. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft carrying at one end a cutter-head and means whereby it has a limited independent rotation on the shaft, a disk afixed to the shaft, cutters carried by the head and means whereby independent rotation of the shaft will cause said disk to project the cutters into working position, and means whereby the cutters when projected to working position will be held to their work.

7. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft, 21' cutter-head rotatably mounted on the inner end thereof and provided with a flange at its outer end and with a series of cutters adapted to be projected beyond the circumference of the cutter-head, resilient means carried by the shaft for pressing against the outer face of the boiler-sheet, said shaft being provided with means whereby it may be rotated, and means also being provided whereby the initial rotation port, a shaft mounted in said support and of the shaft in one direction causes the cutters to be projected to working position and initial rotation in the other direction causes the cutters to be retracted to non-working position.

8. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft provided with means for rotating it at its outer end and with a rotatable head at its inner end, said head being provided with a flange at its outer end and with retractable and projectable cutters at a point beyond the flange, means operated by the initial rotation of the shaft in one direction for projecting the cutters and by the initial operation of the shaft in the other direction for retracting them, a yoke slidably mounted on the shaft and adapted to straddle the cutter-head and bear upon the outer face of the boiler-sheet at points outside of the hand hole, and springsneans on the shaft for normally pressing said yoke toward the cutterhead.

9. In a tool of the class set forthga shaft provided at 'one end with means for rotatable tangentially-arranged cutters in the head, each being provided with pin adapted to engage with one of said slots, means being provided for holding the cutter-head against rotation while the cutters are being projected to working position.

10. In a tool of the class set forth, a shaft, a head adapted to pass into the hand-hole and carrying a series of cutters adapted to slide inwardly and outwardly, mean being provided wherebysaid head has only limited rotatability on said shaft, means affixed to the shaft forprojecting the cutters to working position and withdrawing them to nonworking position, said head being provided with'means whereby it may be temporarily held against rotation by engagement with p I the boiler-sheet, and a spring pressed means mounted on the shaft for engaging theadjacent side of the boiler-sheet, this springpressed means tending to withdraw the head from thehand-hole.

11. In a tool of the class set forth, a

support, a shaft carrying a cutter-head adapted to pass into the hand-hole, sliding cutters carried by the head, and means whereby these cutters may be Withdrawn to a non-operative position to permit the cutter-head to pass into the hand-hole Whereby the cutters may be projected into operative position to engage the inner face of the boiler-wall, means being provided for holding the cutter-head against rotation while the cutters are being projected to working position.

12. In a tool of the class set forth, a supcarrying a tool-head at its inner end adapted to pass into the hand-hole, said shaft and said head having limited independent rotatability, cutters carried by the head and adapted to be withdrawn to non-operative position to permitv the head to be passed into the hand-hole and to be projected to operative position to engage the gasket-seat on the inner face of the boiler-wall, and means whereby these movements of the cutters may be accomplished by relative rotation of the shaft and tool-head, means being provided for clamping the tool in position on the boiler-head with the cutting-edges in position for operation.

13. In an appliance of the class set forth, a support, ashaft mounted in said support and'carrying a tool-head at its inner end adapted to pass into the hand-hole, said shaft and said head having limited independent rotatability, tools carried by the head and adapted to be withdrawn to nonoperative position to permit the head to be passed'into the hand-hole and to be projected to operative position to enga e the gasket-seat on the inner face of the oilerwall, and means whereby these movements of the tools may be accomplished'by relative rotation of the shaft and tool-head, said tool-head being provided With means Whereby the head may be pressed into frictional engagement With the boiler-Wall While the tools are being projected into working position. 7

14. In an appliance of the class set forth, a shaft carryinq' at its inner end a toolhead adapted to be passed into the hand-hole and having a limited rotatability on the shaft, means whereby the relative rotation of the shaft and the head will project the tools into Working position, a supporting member, and resilient means for pressing the head against the boiler-Wall when the tool-head is pushed into the hand-hole,

'said tool-head being provided with means for engaging the boiler-Wall to thus hold the tool-head against rotation While the shaft is being rotated independently of thetoolhead to project the tools to Working position.

15. In a tool for the purpose set forth, a rotatable shaft, a cutter-head freely mounted on said shaft and having grooves therein, cutters slidingly movable in said grooves, means connected to said shaft and engaging said cutters so as to slidingly move the same on the rotation of said shaft, and means for holding said cutter-head stationary temporarily when said shaft is rotated.

In testimony whereof We hereunto afiix our signatures this 30th day of March, 1920.

HARRISON L. STALEY FRANK J. ROCK. Witnesses R. A. GARBER, RUBY C. sTA-LEY. 

